Lawn mower grass catcher



Oct. 21, 1952 GATES 2,614,380

LAWN MOWER GRASS CATCHER Filed Sept. 9, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Ill/,4. I

"\llllllllllllllllllllll INVENTOR. 004 6. 60755 2 Sl-IEETS-Sl-IEET 2 P. G. GATES LAWN MOWER GRASS CATCHER Oct. 21, 1952 Filed Sept. 9, 1950 Patented Oct. 21, 1952 LA N MOWER GRASS carcass. Paul 0. Gates, Long Beach, Calif. Application September 9, 1950, Serial No.1"84,'043

This invention relates to lawn mowers, and in particular to 'a'lawn mower having an improved grass catcher. V

In the usual lawn mower having a grass catcher with a stationary floor, the grass cuttings from the helicalhlades of the mower are deposited on one side of the floor of the grass catcher by virtue of the shape of the blades. This condition makes it necessary for the operator of the mower to move the'grass from one side of the grass catcher to the other side or the back of the catcher "to fully load the catcher. Furthermore, in many types of mowersthe cuttings thrown backwardly by the cutting "blades are deposited at the forward margin or portion of "the grass catcher and at frequent intervals the user of the mower must move the grass cuttings to the rear of the grass catcher to make room for further cuttings.

A main object of the present invention is to provide an improved grass catcher having a rotary floor which floor is arranged to receive grass cuttings from the cutting mechanism on the lawn 51Claims. ((156- 199) mower and to convey the grass to a barrier proground-engaging mechanism which engages the ground to be driven thereby'and which mechanism serves to drive the rotary floor only in the direction intended {regardless of backward or forward movements or the grass catcher over the ground.

Another object or the present invention is to provide a grass catcher having a rotary floor and above which is provided a barrier having a grass cuttings carrier associated therewith, to receive and support grass cuttings dammed up by the barrier.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be made manifest in the following detailed description and specifically pointed out in the appended claims, reference is had to the-ac companying drawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a lawn mower 'hav ing a grass catcher embodying the present invention detachably connected thereto; I

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view on an enlarged scaleinelevation along'lines 2-2 .of Fig. l,taken in the direction of the arrows;

'Fig. 3 is a'fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale in elevation along lines 33 of Fig. 1, taken-in the direction of "the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view in elevation along lines 4-4 in Fig. '2 in the direction of the arrows showing the lifting device of the driving mechanism in the position it occupies when the grass catcher is being moved forwardly; 7

Fig. "5 is a view similar to Fig.- 4, showing the lifting device of the driving mechanism for the rotary floor in the-position which it assumes when the grass catcher is movedrearwardly;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view in elevation along lines 6-6 of Fig. 2, taken in the direction of the arrows and showing the driving gear 'in engagement with the crown gear on the rotary floor; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the lifter device of the driving mechanism for the rotary floor..

Referring to the accompanying drawings wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, Fig. 1 shows an apparatus wherein there is a lawn mower proper indicated at In and'a grass catcher embodying the concepts of the present invention indicatedv at H detachably secured to the lawn mower proper by "thefusual upstanding lugs I 2 and apertures 13, which apertures are located in the bottom I4 of the grass catcher "H.

The lawn mower H! has the usual helical blades 1! which serve, when the lawn mower is driven in a forward direction, to cut grass and deposit the grass cuttings on the bottom of the grass catcher with :a major portion of the cuttings .being deposited on the left-hand side of the bottom of the grass catcher as the parts .are depicted in Fig. '1. Some lawn :mowers of the above type also operate to deposit .a major portion of the grass cuttings on the forward portion of the grass catcher. The result is that the grass cutting operation must be interrupted at frequent intervals to move the grass cuttings to the righthand sideof the grass catcher and to the back of the grass catcher to load the grass catcher to capacity. The grass catcher of the present invention overcomes the above disadvantages by being provided witha'rotary floor 20 which. is rotatahly mounted on a central post '21 by means of a washer resting 'ona shoulder I'Ol formed on post :2 There is a second shoulder I 02 against which a nut I03 is threaded so that the rotary floor is rotatably contained between the nut I03 and washer I00. The outer circumferential margin of floor rests on and slides along the bottom I 4 of the grass catcher, as clearly shown.

Post 2! is connected to a transverse axle 22 which axle is secured at its ends in hangers 25 by locknuts 26, said hangers being secured by rivets to the sides 3| of the grass catcher 'l I. There is a rotary ground engaging driving roller 33 rotatably mounted on axle 22 and separated from the adjacent locknut 26 by a washer 34. There is a ground engaging idler roller H rotatably mounted on the opposite end of the axle 22 and idler roller H is preferably constructed of wood and prevented from endwise movement by washers l2 and a cotter pine 15.

theteeth with the ground to once again drive the rotary floor 2c in a clockwise direction. Therefore, the rotary floor 29 is intermittently advanced in a counterclockwise direction as the parts are depicted in Fig. l, and therefore, the grass cuttings on the rotary floor will be conveyed around and be dammed up by a barrier ill.

Barrier in is best shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and has a downwardly and inwardly inclined edge 13, the inner margin of the barrier 1D being bent to encircle a spacer collar 18 which encircles post 2|. There is a nut 83 threadedly received at the upper end of post 2! to retain the collar 78 thereon. As can be seen from Fig. 2, the spacer collar 18 is considerably longer than the encircling portion 85 of the barrier iii thereby Driving roller 33 has a wood center 3'! and a metallic sheath 38 which is secured to center 37 by nails 43. Sheath 38 has two spaced rows of driving teeth 40 struck out therefrom. The right-hand row of teeth as the parts are depicted in Fig. 2, is arrangedto engage dependin crown teeth which are struck down from rotary floor 20. Both sets of teeth 40 on driving roller 33 engage the ground and serve to drive the roller, but the left-hand row does not engage the crown teeth. However, when the right-hand row of crown teeth wears considerably, the driving roller 33 can be reversed to allow the lefthand row of teeth 43 to be positioned in righthand position to engage the crown teeth 45.

The right-hand row of teeth 48 on driving roller 33 is adapted to drive rotary floor 20 when the lawn mower is advanced but it is desired to drivethe floor 20 only in one direction regardless of whether the grass catcher is being moved forwardly or backwardly across the ground. To this end a ground engaging lifter roller 59 is rotatably mounted in eccentric fashion on axle 22 and prevented from endwise movement by a cotter pin 5| which passes through axle 2?. and which is located on the left-hand side of the lifter roller as the parts are depicted in Fig. 2. The left-hand side of litter roller 50 is formed to provide quadrantshaped stop members and 53,. members55be ing larger than members 55 due .to the eccentricity of lifterr roller: .53. When the grass catcher is 'mo'ved forwardly the, eccentric lifter roller'which'engages' the ground removed in a clockwise, di'r'ectionQasj the parts f aredepicted in Fig. 4, until the protruding portionsl59 of the cotter pin .5] eng ge .fac'es Eli; and BI .of stop members 55'jand 56; res'p'e'ctively. In this .position, the lower surface of the. eccentric: roller isbaused to assume a positionllocated slightly above the lower surface ofdriving roller"33,,and therefore, the groundengaging teeth It. en a e the ground and drive therot'ary. floor .ZUQIin a QOuIltGrfCDCKWiSC direction as the; parts 4 are viewed in "Fig. 1. When, the' grassi' catcherffjs moved in'a rearward, direction .the li ft'er roller 5a is rotated by itsf'en'gagementwith"the ground to' the position shownfiril ig. 5 ,wh 'ere the protruding portions 59 jof'cotter piriwil engage the faces :66 and jfillof'the' stops iifiand 56;.respective1y., The lifter roller "inflthis .Ip osition; pre ventsw engagement 'orrhe tee ,40 with, the groundf'as? clearly shown infdot-dash linesjin Fig. 2;' jwhen the grass catcher is --onc e-, again moved forwardlttthe lifter roller is rotated lay-its engagement with the ground to thefull-line position shown in Fig. 2, permitting-engagement of] permitting vertical movement of the encircling portion and the barrier 10 with relation to spacer collar 18 and post 2i for purposes to be described. 7

There is a grass cuttings. carrier 53 associated with barrier 70 and which carrier is provided by bending the lower edge of barrier iii at right angles tothe barrier in providing in the particuwith lugs which ar adapted to engage bends 9| provided in a forward frame member 93 formed of wire and which frame member encircles the forward portion of the grass catcher as shown in Fig. 3, and is secured to the sides 3! of the grass catcher by bending margins of the sides 3| and floor l4 around the'frame member 93 or in any other suitable manner.

As best shown in Fig. ,'the barrier it can be manually moved upwardly to the dot-dash line position where the lugs SE3 clear the bends 8i permitting the barrier to be swung to the dotdash line position shown in Fig. .1.- 'When the barrier in is in the dot-dash line position-shown in Fig. 1, the grass cuttings'in the carrier 86 and in the grass" catcher may readily be dumped without interference-by the barrier ill 1 by merelyremoying the grass. catcher. H from :the lugs 52 on the lower, frame: and dumping the catcher in the usual manner. ;;After dumping; the barrier Itmay be ,swungback'wande the-slugs posie tioned behindtl'ie bendsv 91;: r a 5,

It willebeappreciated .thatjtheagrass cuttings will be conveyed around by therotary floor and be dammed-up by the barrier fit with the carrier 83 being loaded up with rass :cuttings: and sup= porting thes e. grass cuttings, 3 thereby relieving the rotaryfloor; of ,theweight of these cuttingsw The present invention, therefor provides-j an improved grass catclsier whiclr;-,. an be attached to a conventional lawn mower and which, when attached, will eliminate the interruptions inoperation vyhich have been necessary when using prior rass catchersitoallow; shifting ofthe grass cuttings to difi'erent portions of; these prior grass catchers. The rotary, floor of the grass catcher of the present invention conveys the cuttings from the forwardand left-hand. side ofthe grass catcher aroundto a barrier-which dams zup the cuttings so that a .largeamount 10f gcuttings' can be collected on the-carrier, tfi-permitting a; long period, of uninterrupted :use, of the lawn mower.

swung 1 to a neutral position whereit will not interfere with the dumping of the grass cuttings when the catcher is full.

It will be appreciated that other types of oneway drives can be provided for driving the rotary floor in one-way direction regardless of the forward or backward movement of the catcher. In the usual lawn mower there is a one-way clutch drive connection between the ground engaging wheels of the lawn mower and the helical blades. A one-way drive for the rotary floor could be provided by having a ground engaging member which drives the rotary floor through a one-way drive clutch similar to that connecting the, ground wheels of the mower and the helical cutting blades.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A grass catcher for lawn mowers comprising a body releasably attached to said lawn mower, a rotatable floor supported by said body, means carried by said body and in cooperating relationship with said floor for supporting and arresting cut grass deposited on said floor, and groundengaging means secured to said body and adapted to rotate said floor when said mower is moved in one direction.

2. A grass catcher for lawn mowers comprising a body releasably attached to said lawn mower, a rotatable floor supported by said body, means carried by said body and in cooperating relationship with said floor for supporting and arresting cut grass deposited on said floor, ground-engaging means secured to said body and adapted to rotate said floor when said mower is moved in one direction, and a ground-engaging lifting roller on said body adapted to disengage the floor rotating means when the mower is moved in a direction opposite to the one direction.

3. A grass catcher for lawn mowers comprising a body releasably attached to said lawn mower,

rotatable means supported by the body for carrying grass deposited thereon, a barrier supported by said body for arresting the rotary travel of the grass, and ground-engaging means secured to said body for rotating said rotatable means when said mower is moved in one direction.

4. A grass catcher for lawn mowers comprising a body releasably attached to said lawn mower, rotatable means supported by the body for carrying grass deposited thereon, a barrier supported by said body for arresting the rotary travel of the grass, ground-engaging means secured to said body for rotating said rotatable means when said mower is moved in one direction, and a groundengaging lifting roller on said body adapted to disengage said ground-engaging means from said rotatable means when the mower is moved in a direction opposite to the one direction.

5. A grass catcher for lawn mowers comprising a body releasably attached to said lawn mower, rotatable means supported by the body for carrying grass deposited thereon, a barrier releasably supported by said body for arresting the rotary travel of said grass, said barrier being reciprocable and rotatable for releasing said body from said lawn mower, and ground-engaging means secured to said body adapted to rotate said rotatable means.

PAUL G. GATES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 836,325 Kevlin Nov. 20, 1906 944,438 Holmested Dec. 28, 1909 1,295,822 Munger Feb. 25, 1919 1,369,258 Meyers Feb. 22, 1921 1,619,851 Coley Mar. 8, 1927 2,268,897 Price Jan. 6, 1942 2,494,062 SherrOw Jan. 10, 1950 

